Department for Transport

East-West Rail Link: Freight

baroness randerson: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the freight capacity of the East–West railway from Oxford to Cambridge.

baroness vere of norbiton: The strategic scope for East West Rail is currently being developed. EWR Co. are considering provision for freight, ensuring the route will support existing freight, and are currently undertaking a study to understand potential freight use.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Climate Change Cabinet Committee

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Climate Change have been chaired by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since his appointment aspresident of the COP26 climate change conference.

lord callanan: The Cabinet Committee on Climate Change has only been chaired by the Prime Minister. The Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has therefore not chaired the Committee but attends alongside the Ministers of other Departments with responsibility for taking forward the UK’s approach to tackling climate change.

Climate Change Convention

baroness jones of whitchurch: To ask Her Majesty's Government how Parliament will be informed of progress towards preparing for COP26.

lord callanan: COP26 is a top international priority for the UK government and has rightly attracted parliamentary interest, attention and energy. The Department is working closely with COP26 Unit to ensure that parliamentarians are engaged in the preparations and delivery of COP26, and that cross party ambition and support is galvanised to ensure the success of the conference.

Carbon Emissions

baroness liddell of coatdyke: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential use of (1) carbon capture, (2) carbon storage, and (3) hydrogen, to decarbonise (a) heating, (b) transport, and (c) heavy industry.

lord callanan: Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) and hydrogen are likely to play an essential role in helping the UK achieve net zero by 2050. For example, our analysis suggests that around 270TWh of hydrogen could be needed across the economy by 2050, which could increase considerably depending on application across heat and transport sectors. Low carbon hydrogen could be produced through gas reformation with CCUS, electrolysis, or biomass gasification. The precise split of this across end uses will depend on a variety of factors including cost, availability and technical application.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Israel: Palestinians

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Israel about reports that an Israeli policeman fired shots at Palestinian children in a school playground through the bars of the school gate.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We have repeatedly made clear to the Israeli authorities our longstanding concerns about the use of excessive force, not limited to the use of live ammunition. We have also stressed the importance of the Israeli security forces providing appropriate protection to the Palestinian civilian population, in particular the need to protect children.

Iran: Detainees

lord turnberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Iran about the reported detention without trial of (1) Nabi Tardust, (2) Ramtin Movaseghi, (3) Ashkan Valizadeh, and (4) Milad Ghorban Nezhad.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We are aware of reports that a number of university students were arrested by Iranian security forces and detained without trial during the protests in January over the Iranian military's shooting down of a Ukrainian plane. We unreservedly support the right to peaceful protest and call on Iran to uphold its commitments under international law to protect freedom of assembly and speech, and treat all detainees in line with international standards. The UK regularly raises human rights with the Iranian authorities at all levels and we continue to take action with the international community to press Iran to improve its poor record on all human rights issues and to guarantee procedural fairness in legal cases, including most recently at the UN Human Rights Council in March this year.

North Korea: Crimes against Humanity

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made ofthe statementby the UN High Commissioner for Human Rightson 10Marchthat the government of North Korea may be responsible for crimes against humanity; andwhat plans they have to refer that government to the International Criminal Court.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: The UK remains deeply concerned by the human rights situation in North Korea. The international community has a responsibility to respond to the human rights violations in North Korea which, as the UN Commission of Inquiry in 2014 concluded, may amount to crimes against humanity. The UK is fully committed to the principle that there must be no impunity for the most serious international crimes. North Korea is not a State Party to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and so a referral of the situation in North Korea could be made only by the UN Security Council in this instance. The UK continues to support an annual debate on North Korean human rights issues in the UN Security Council. We welcome the Human Rights Council resolution in March which provides the basis for further work on a credible framework for accountability.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) pupils are in special schools, and (2) special schools there are.

baroness berridge: In January 2019, there were 125,410 pupils in 1,044 state-funded and non-maintained special schools in England.Information on the number of pupils and schools, including by school type, is published in the annual 'Schools, pupils and their characteristics' statistical release published at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers and is attached. A time series is provided in table 1a of the 2019 release and tables 1b and 1c provide this information by local authority. Figures relating to January 2020 will be publish in June 2020.



HL2570_Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 916.5 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Visits

lord farmer: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the report by Lord Farmer The Farmer Review:The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners' Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime, published in August 2017, what consideration they have given to the recommendation that prisons shouldensure that virtual visits, using video calling technology,are available "for the small percentage of families or individual family members who cannot visit frequently or at all due to infirmity, distance or other factors".

lord farmer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what guidance has been given to prison governors about visits from family and significant others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord keen of elie: HMPPS recognises that families or significant relationships can play an important role in supporting prisoners to reduce their risk of reoffending following release. We have implemented a number of the recommendations from the 2017 Farmer Review and continue to publish updates on progress on these every six months.Visits have been suspended after the Government took vital steps to limit travel and social interactions in order to limit the spread of the virus. In recognition of the importance of continued contact with family, however, the Government has moved swiftly to keep prisoners in touch with their family members by other means.As part of new measures introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ministers have approved the use of 900 locked SIM card handsets, allowing risk-assessed prisoners to speak to a small number of pre-authorised contacts.Strict measures will ensure the phones are not misused with calls being time-limited and monitored closely. Additionally, handsets will include tamper-proof tape to prevent non-secure SIM cards being used.As well as helping prisoners connect with their families, the phones will give prisoners access to support services such as the Samaritans, therefore reducing their risk of self-harm at a uniquely difficult time.We are also urgently exploring options for the safe and secure use of video solutions in a range of establishments to facilitate family video calling. We expect that this approach will be available imminently to support the current situation, but beyond this, will consider how best to utilise the video-calling services to enable prisoners to maintain contact where they have historically not received regular visits.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits

baroness sherlock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans are in place to ensure that those who are unable to work during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of underlying health conditions can apply for (1) Employment and Support Allowance, (2) Personal Independence Payment, and (3) Universal Credit, even if they are unable to leave their homes.

baroness stedman-scott: As both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have made clear, the Government will do whatever it takes to support people affected by COVID 19 and we have been clear in our intention that everyone should be supported to do the right thing.

Home Office

Asylum: Children

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many offers to receive vulnerable unaccompanied childrenwho are currently in Europe have been receivedin (1) 2019,and (2) 2020, by the Home Office from (a) local authorities, (b)care and fostering agencies, and (c) private individuals.

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what offer the Home Office received from TACT Care, a fostering charity, to place vulnerable unaccompanied children from Europe in appropriate homes in the UK.

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect the Home for Goodcharity toreceive the vulnerable unaccompanied childrenthat it identified as having already been processed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugeesin Europe.

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by Compassion in Politics reported inThe Guardian on 29 December 2019 about delays in accepting vulnerable unaccompanied children from Europe, particularly from Greece, for care in the UK.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office works closely with local authorities and third sector partners in order to identify suitable placements for unaccompanied children for transfer to the UK from Europe under our existing obligations.The Government remains fully committed to relocating the specified number of 480 unaccompanied children to the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 (the Dubs Amendment) as soon as possible. We will publish a full data set on the transfers once we have fulfilled this commitment.Over 220 children were transferred to the UK under section 67 when the Calais camp was cleared in late 2016. Since then we have been making further progress with Greece and the other participating states, to transfer more eligible children to move closer to achieving this commitment

Northern Ireland Office

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

lord hain: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure thatthe payment scheme set up under the Victims' Payments Regulations 2020 will beimplemented in line with the statutory commitments passed by Parliament for compensatory payments to those severely injured through no fault of their own.

viscount younger of leckie: Responsibility for delivering the Victims’ Payment Scheme rests with the Northern Ireland Executive. NIO officials have been and continue to be available to provide appropriate support, including through a range of detailed discussions which have taken place to date. The UK Government is fully committed to supporting the Northern Ireland Civil Service in delivering this important piece of work.

Terrorism: Northern Ireland

lord hain: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they are having with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that Part 5(23)(2) of the Victims' Payments Regulations 2020 is implemented, and victims' payments are made as soon as reasonably practicable from May 2020.

viscount younger of leckie: The Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for the successful delivery of the Victims’ Payment Scheme, including the timely provision of victims’ payments to eligible applicants once the scheme is up and running.Following the establishment of the legal framework for the scheme in January, NIO officials have continued to be available to provide support to the Northern Ireland Civil Service when needed in their delivery of the scheme.Details about the scheme and how to apply will be clearly communicated in advance of the scheme opening for applications.

Northern Ireland Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

lord lexden: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Lord Duncan of Springbank on 19 March 2019 (HL Deb, col 1407), what discussions they have had with the Northern IrelandExecutive about steps the Executive are taking to mitigate the impact of changes to the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme.

viscount younger of leckie: In October 2019, the Department for Economy (DFE) appointed energy expert Andrew Buglass to consider the issue of hardship relating to participants in the NI Non-Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive scheme (NIRHI). Mr Buglass was asked by the DfE to develop a relevant definition of hardship, investigate its presence as a result of NIRHI participation, and make recommendations to the Department on any appropriate course of action. The report of Mr Buglass has just recently been provided to the DfE and will be considered by NI Ministers in the coming weeks.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Television: Licensing

lord foulkes of cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byBaroness Barran on 19 March (HL2428) and the long-term forecast for the length of the self-isolation period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, what plans they have (1) to seek an agreement with the BBC to suspend the withdrawal offree TV licenses for people aged over 75, and (2) to bear the costs arising as a result of any such suspension.

baroness barran: The BBC’s priority over the coming period will be to do everything it can to serve the nation at this uniquely challenging time. As the national broadcaster, the BBC has a vital role to play in supplying information to the public in the weeks and months ahead. The future of the over 75 concession and the costs of the concession are matters for the BBC following the passage of the Digital Economy Act 2017. Recognising the exceptional circumstances, the BBC Board decided to change the start date of its new policy. The current plan is to now bring it into place on 1 August. However, the government welcomes the BBC’s decision to keep the issue under review as the situation continues to evolve.